1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fine fabric laundry detergent composition. More particularly, the invention is directed to a fine fabric detergent composition having incorporated therein a sugar ester which provides both softening and whitening properties to the detergent composition A. preferred embodiment of the invention is directed to an aqueous liquid fine fabric laundry detergent composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of various sugar derivatives in laundry detergent compositions is known.
It is well known in the art that certain alkyl glycosides, particularly long chain alkyl glycosides, are surface active and are useful as nonionic surfactants in detergent compositions. Lower alkyl glycosides are not as surface active as their long chain counterparts. Alkyl glycosides exhibiting the greatest surface activity have relatively long-chain alkyl groups. These alkyl groups generally contain about 8 to 25 carbon atoms and preferably about 10 to 14 carbon atoms.
Long chain alkyl glycosides are commonly prepared from saccharides and long chain alcohols. However, unsubstituted saccharides such as glucose are insoluble in higher alcohols and thus do not react together easily. Therefore, it is common to first convert the saccharide to an intermediate, lower alkyl glycoside which is then reacted with the long chain alcohol. Lower alkyl glycosides are commercially available and are commonly prepared by reacting a saccharide with a lower alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst. Butyl glycoside is often employed as the intermediary.
The use of long chain alkyl glycosides as a surfactant in detergent compositions and various methods of preparing alkyl glycosides is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,974,134; 3,547,828; 3,598,865 and 3,721,633. The use of lower alkyl glycosides as a viscosity reducing agent in aqueous liquid and powdered detergents is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,981.
Acetylated sugar esters, such as, for example, glucose penta acetate, glucose tetra acetate and sucrose octa acetate, have been known for years as oxygen bleach activators. The use of acetylated sugar derivatives as bleach activators is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,955,905; 3,901,819 and 4,016,090.